Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-06-19

vet i'm the way OF liberty, anu under the
direction of Lord Baltimore passed the
famous net Of liberation on the 2d OF
Auril. fGlq. which first established the
principle Of freedom of conscience on
the Garth.
STRIKING FOR LIBERTY
Thus early was the South striking
for those great principles OF liberty
which are fundamental now, mainly
because Of the spirit of orr forelathers
II vns not until some years after
VIRGINIA had declared herself that the
issue was finally Joined in England.
From this time the light Of liberty
famed like a beacon. The colonies de-
clored themselves dcvotedly loyal t. the
Crown. but were more true to their
own riqhis. and they frequently found
Themselves opposed to the government
as vested in md manifested by the
ROYAL Governor
During the time Of the Common
wealth the southern colonies held 10
tLc Crown and became the asylum OF
ma,v haril- pressed Cayalicrswh who found
Cromwells interest in them too urgent
to permit them TO remain at home.
and Charles himself was offered n
crown by his loyal subjects in Virginia
when he was fugitive with price set
ON his head.
So notorious was tbs fealty that the
GREAT Protector was obliged to send a
war fleet to Virginia to quell this spirit
and to make terms of peace.
The treaty is made As between indie
pendent powers.
The colonies were TO obey the Com
monwealth. but this submission was to
he acknowledged voluntary act not
forced nor constrained by a conquest
upon the country
The people were "to enjoy such free
dcms and privileges rs belong to free
born people in England The con-
t;nuance Of their representative assem-
bly, was guaranteed.
There was TO be total indemnity.
The colony was to have free trade not
withstandIng the navigation act.
The General Assembly alone was to
have the power 20 levy taxes, and there
were other provisions securing those
privileges and immunities which were
claimed as the birthright of the race
After Cromwell's death the General As
scmbly declared the supreme power to
be- resident in itself until such com
mand or commission come out of Eng
land, as the General Assembly adjudged.
And when the King once more came
into his own, the General Assembly
accepted his Governor willingly. as did
the colony of Maryland, but held firm
" to the advantages it Lad secured du-
ing the interregnum.
Moreover. the colony welcomed the
followers OF Cromwell in the hour of
their adversely, and offered them rs So
cure an asylum as it had done a few
years before the hard-pressed Cavaliers
Even one of the king-killcrs themselves
found here refuge and home. Thus
society came to be knit of the strongest
elements Of all parties and classes,
who merged all factions into loyalty
for their collective rights.
Then came the contestwith Berkeley.
Charles forgot the people who offered
him "A kingdom when he WAS an exile
and wandercr. and his representative
neglected their nights.
England claimed the monopoly of the
colonial trade. and imposed heavy
Guty On their exports. Not content
with this, the silly king gave away half
of the settled portion of \irginia 10 two
Of his followers The colony sent com
missionGs TO protest; but before the
trouble could be remedied Virginia
hamcd into revolution. with Nathaniel
Bacon at its head.
We are told that the great revolution
Of lGSs cstubls shed the liberties Of the
English people. The southern colo
mics of Great Britain had fought ont
her revolution twelve years before, and
although the revolution failed disas-
trously for its participants and it has
come down in history As a rebellion,
yet its ends were gained.
The troops of the fiery Bacon were
beaten and scattered. those who were
captured were hanged as Instruction
lsts, and the gallant leader himself
died of fever contracted in the trenches.
q fugitive and an outlaw, with stigma
80 welded to his name that after two
centuries he is known but as Bacon
the Rebel
Judged by the narrow standard of
immediate success, which makes the
result the sole test. Nathaniel Bacon
was a rebel, and the uprising which he
headed was "a rebellion but rs some
Of Us know. there are "rcbelliOns w
which are not rcbellion,, but great
revolutions. and there are "rebels ~
who, however absolutely their immc-
diatc purposes may for the time being
have failed, and however unju>tly CON
temporary history may have recorded
their actions, shall yet be- known to
postcrity rs patriots pure and lofty,
and their motives and their deeds shall
evoke the admiration of all succeeding
time.
Clio with warped pen may fal,ify the
temporary record, but Fame shall in
scribe their names higher than spite or
ignorance can climb to tuui>h or
oblivion can rise to destroy.
Such was Nathaniel Bacon. They
called him rebel and outlawed him,
but he headed a revolution for the pro-
lection of the same rights, the SINE
privileges, franchises, AMI lmmuni-
ties whose infringement caused an
other revolution Just one hundred
years later, the leader Of whose armies
was the rebel George Washington, the
founder of this university.
The elder rebel failed Of his purpose
for the time, yet haply but for that
stalwart blow struck at jamestown for
the rights of the colonists there had
never been Declaration Of Indepcnd-
ence, a Bunker Hill, or the United
States of America
Time fails me to follow the course
that the independence of thought, te-
nacity of rights. and love of liberty
took through all the succeeding years
The babe that strangled the serpent
in his cradle was not likely to lose his
spirit in his manhood
The spirit never receded. The open
ing up of lands, the increase of slaves,
the extension of commerce, made the
southern colonies Weather generation
after generation, and their population